When I heard the news, the first thing I remembered about Patrick Stewart was the first time I saw him in person, which was at the Star Trek convention StarFest Denver in March of 1988. At that point, I had been enjoying the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, mostly because fans had been waiting for a new Star Trek series for such a long time. I didn't have a strong opinion about Patrick Stewart, star of the show and our new captain, and had gotten tickets for StarFest to see Brent Spiner. When Spiner canceled (we heard that he'd had a bad experience with a fan), Stewart offered to take his place. It was his first convention.
I was sitting in the second or third row, very near the front, and he was so charming, clever and well spoken (a huge understatement) that I immediately developed a huge crush on him. I can remember that a lot of women in the audience were reacting exactly as I had, too. There was something so magnetic about him in person, and that isn't an intentional X-Men joke. My cousin Tracie saw him on Broadway in A Christmas Carol and had the same reaction.
My crush on Stewart continued throughout the seven seasons of TNG, on through the Next Gen movies, and pretty much to the present day. My favorite episode of TNG was "The Inner Light," and as it turns out, it was Stewart's favorite, too. I read his autobiography a few months ago, and my daughter gave me a CD of his Shakespeare sonnets for my birthday last month. My daughter tells me Stewart is going to be in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday movie as Professor X.
Honestly, this is a tough one.
Rest in peace, Patrick Stewart. You were a class act, and unforgettable.
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.
Beautiful tribute Billie. He was a brilliant and sensitive performer, and his friendship with Ian McKellen was a source of inspiration and joy to me. Bon voyage, Sir Patrick
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